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Baisakhi 2020 Date : When is Baisakhi Festival Celebrated

Baisakhi 2020 Date: When is Baisakhi Festival?

Baisakhi festival is celebrated in the month of April every year. Gurdwaras all across India and also world are decorated with lights on the occassion of Baisakhi. Satsangs and kirtans are organised all over and people offer Prayers and Ardas for a happy life.

Significance of BaisakhiBaisakhi festival, also known as Vaisakhi or Vasakhi, is a religious celebration in Sikhism. Baisakhi is celebrated on April 14 every year as per Nanakshahi calendar and the Mool Nanakshahi Calendar. It comes on the first day of Vaisakh month (April-May) as per Nanakshahi calendar. Thus Baisakhi is also popularly known as Vaisakhi. Baisakhi marks the beginning of the Sikh New Year and the traditional solar New Year for Hindus. The day of Vaisakhi marks the birth of the Khalsa way of living and formation of the Khalsa Panth under Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. The festival of Baisakhi is celebrated by both Hindus and Sikhs.

Baisakhi festival holds a great significance for the Sikh community as the Tenth Guru founded the Khalsa Community on this holy day. Nagar Kirtans and processions are organised in which Guru Granth Sahib hymns are being told, where large number of people take part.

Vaisakhi marks the beginning of the new spring year and the end of the harvest of rabi crop. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana thank God for the harvest and pray for prosperity in the coming years. People wake up early on this day and take a dip in the holy rivers.

A major astrological significance of Baisakhi is that it marks the sun’s entry into Mesh Rashi. Thus Baisakhi is also known as Mesha Sankranti. Baisakhi is celebrated as 'Rongali Bihu' in Assam, 'Naba Barsha' in Bengal, ‘Puthandu’ in Tamil Nadu, 'Pooram Vishu' in Kerala and ‘Vaishakha’ in Bihar.

History of Baisakhi
Since there was a huge massacre of the Brahmins and Hindus in 1699 by Aurangzeb, they approached Sikh community's ninth guru, Guru Teg Bahadur for help and protection. After a fierce battle afterwards, in which he and his followers fought bravely, they were still defeated and were asked to convert to Islam. The ninth Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded on the order of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb for refusing to convert to Islam, this prompted the coronation of the Tenth Guru of Sikhs Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Gobind Singh formed the Khalsa Panth – also known as the Order of the Pure Ones on the same day and made five Sikh warriors who would go on to defend religious freedom.

He asked these five to lay down their lives for Guru and Lord, who later came to be known as Panj Piaras. They were declared 5 founding members of the Khalsa Community and gave them the title of Singh. They were asked to wear 5Ks or emblems all the time - kesh (unshorn hair and beard), kangha (a comb), kara (a steel bracelet), kachcha (cotton undergarment) and kirpan, a sword. The day of Baisakhi is celebrated as the founding day for the Khalsa community, the day on which Guru Gobind Singh invited the people to come forward and get into Sikhism and raise their voice against the Mughal Empire.

All these events took place on March 30, 1699, at the Keshgarh Sahib Gurudwara, Anandpur and thus Baisakhi festival is celebrated there with huge pomp and show. Much celebration takes place in Punjab.

The Jallianwala Bagh (1919), where thousands of Indians were massacred on the orders of British empire official Colonel Reginald Dyer, also took place on Baisakhi.